Skubick's Capitol: Election reveals ugly truths

Elections are always fun. It’s a chance to learn something about ourselves, but sometimes the look in that mirror produces an ugly reflection. Tuesday, Feb. 28, was one of those days.

At the top of the list is the refusal by most of you to vote.

You can’t say you didn’t know about it as the campaign commercials flooded the airwaves.

The news media played its role by covering the whole thing, but when it came time for you to play your part, where were you?

Perhaps you were AWOL because you had to declare, in public, whether you wanted a Republican or Democratic ballot. Seems rather un-American, but that is the law.

To make matters worse, the two political parties can purchase those voting lists. So for those of you who did vote, look for a Dear Voter letter asking for a contribution. Talk about adding insult to injury.

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It did not have to be so. The state Republican Party is culpable here. The party could have staged a closed-door caucus much like what the Democrats will do in May where the sanctity of your ballot would have been preserved.

The theory goes that party leaders rejected that because Mitt Romney backers were fearful the Tea Party cabal and Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum zealots might hijack the caucus by stuffing it with their supporters thus denying Romney a win.

So rather than take the risk, the GOP hierarchy stuck Michigan taxpayers with the $10 million tab to conduct the primary just so Romney could be shielded from the far right wing of the party.

As if we needed any more proof, we learned that Michigan is culturally divided, another ugly aspect of the election. It runs east and west and north and south. Everybody knows the west side is different. Everyone knows the Upper Peninsula is unique. Heck, they even like the Packers.

And it seems Detroit can’t get any love from anybody beyond 8 Mile Road.

Solid proof of this divide is found in the election results.

Santorum whacked Romney on the west side with a commanding 47 percent to 37 percent win over there. But move to southeast Michigan, and Romney returned the favor with an impressive 48 percent to 30 percent victory there.

Fissures in the state GOP also arose. Ultraconservatives went for Santorum 50 percent to 38 percent, and those with strong religious convictions flocked to Santorum 63 percent to 21 percent.

On the other hand, those who thought the economy was a big deal handed Mr. Romney a 47 percent to 30 percent advantage.

Gov. Rick Snyder was one of those. He’s not a huge fan of conservative wedge issues, and Santorum rode that horse real hard and turned the Romney win into a squeaker.

The governor is much more comfortable on the jobs front and notes that when it is a choice between that and social issues for voters, jobs still win out.

While the election results painfully reveal all our warts, it’s been that way for years and shows no signs of changing. It’s just who we are, and nobody wants a homogeneous state anyway.

However, wouldn’t it be grand if we could be more tolerant of those who are not like all us normal folks?

— Tim Skubick is the longest serving member of the State Capitol Press Corps with 42 years of covering Michigan government and politics.